Ghost of a Chance
by True the Noble
Summary: What if Ash was an abnormal case of the Dragon Clan? He searches far and wide for the perfect team to earn the championship of Kanto, and protect what is his. WARNINGS: Ash is smarter, more clever, and retains his strength. Rated T for now. Ash x Clair(later on). DISCLAIMER: i don't own Pokemon. Satoshi does. Temporary hiatus: On a Bleach kick right now...
1. An Elder's Choice

Two children, a boy and a girl, and both roughly eight years old, were running around the yard out behind a quaint little two story house on the edge of Pallet Town.

The girl, who's name was Clair Wataru, had blue hair that went midway down her back. She wore a black short sleeved shirt and had tight black jeans on. She ran ahead of the boy, laughing at his attempts to catch her.

"You're going to have to move faster than that if you want to catch me, Ash!" Clair yelled over her shoulder.

"I'm gonna get you, Clair! You can't get away from me!" Ash Ketchum, a boy with spiky, raven black hair and a dark blue short sleeved shirt and faded blue jeans, yelled back at her.

"No you won't! Your too much of a slowpoke!" Clair teased. As the girl ran, he redoubled his efforts and slowly caught up to her. Just when he was about to reach out to her, he heard a noise in the woods nearby and froze. Clair kept running, not hearing it. She did stop when she finally realized that she was the only one running, and when she did she turned to Ash, wondering why he stopped. She saw that he was looking into the trees. "Why are you looking into the woods? Did you see something?" she asked, clearly concerned. If there was a strange Pokemon in there, they could be in trouble.

"No, but I heard something. It sounded like it was hurt." Ash replied. Before he could say more, the strangled cry of a Pokemon came out from the woods.

"Ghaaaa..." it cried, clearly panicking. Without a thought, Ash sprinted into the woods, looking for any Pokemon that may need help.

"ASH! Wait, you can't go in there alone!" Clair yelled, worrying about his well-being.

"Then you come too!" he yelled back in defiance, still charging through the forestry. He was determined, that's for sure. Resigned to her fate, she took off after him, knowing that he was very likely to get himself into trouble if she wasn't there to keep him out of it. Not that she was helping by basically saying she would be with him if he got in trouble by going after him. As they ran, a crashing sound reached their ears, and they slowed down, not wanting to incur the wrath of whatever was capable of making such a sound. Finally, they arrived at a clearing that was clearly a battleground. The combatants, however, couldn't have been more mismatched. One of them, a Ghastly, was the one that was panicking, and there was a good reason. The other combatant was a full grown Magneton, and it looked angry. It slowly floated toward the ghost type, who was seeming younger and younger the more they watched, while sparking slightly. The Ghastly was looking for an escape route, and seemingly spotted one. It darted out from the path of the angry hybrid, and floated behind the two children, who went wide eyed at being discovered. The Magneton was still every bit as angry, and showed it with the sparks shooting off of it. Clair teared up slightly, scared of what was going to happen to them. Ash, seeing this, stood up and walked in front of the scared ghost and Clair. "I won't let you hurt them." he said to the hybrid. "You can hurt me, but don't hurt them. The Ghastly is still a very young Pokemon, and probably didn't mean whatever it did to you." Ash tried to reason with the mad Pokemon. In response to this, Magneton shot a thunderbolt at Ash, intending to hit Ghastly, thinking the boy would move. To its surprise, Ash stayed still, and took the attack. Clair screamed, and Ghastly could only watch with wide eyes as Ash took the attack meant for it.

Ash was in severe pain when the attack ended, and showed as much when he dropped to his knees, singed and burned. Resolutely, he stood once more. After standing he only had the strength to do just that, stand. He knew if he was hit again, or moved, he would fall and Clair and the Ghastly would be in danger. He would take all he could if it spared them pain.

The Magneton looked at Ash in slight awe, and annoyance. Awe because this human was clearly just a hatchling and he took a full powered thunderbolt, and was still awake, and annoyance because he would have to hit him again to get to the ghost that attacked him. As the hybrid began sparking again, it was suddenly attacked by something else.

"Dragonite, flamethrower!" said an elderly voice. Sure enough, a jet of fire erupted from a large yellow dragon that landed in front of the children and ghost. It was powerful enough to get the Magneton to flee, clearly not wanting to try its luck against a pseudo legend. After it fled, an elderly man walked out from the woods, and by the dragon's side. "Good job, my old friend. Return." said the man as he held out a pokeball, the dragon being turned to a red energy, then sucked into the ball. Clair smiled.

"Grandpa! Thank Arceus you're here. Ash-" As she was about to say 'is hurt', he fell over, unconscious. She scrambled to his side, as did the old man and the ghost.

"What happened?" the man asked in a tone that screamed no nonsense.

"We were playing in the yard, and then Ash stopped and said he heard something. Then I heard it and he took off into the woods, where we found this Ghastly running from the Magneton. The Ghastly hid behind us, and then Ash went in front of us and said that Magneton could hurt him all he wanted, and he wouldn't let it hurt me or the Ghastly. It shocked him and was about to do it again until you came. Is Ash going to be okay, Grandpa?" Clair asked, tears falling down her pale cheeks. She had said all of that in one breath. The elder was slightly shocked she did so.

"He'll be fine, Clair. Calm yourself. Let us journey back to the house. I'll carry him." her grandfather said. She nodded, relieved. As they ventured back through the woods, Clair noticed the Ghastly following them.

"Grandpa, that Ghastly is following us." she said, clearly nervous. They didn't need anything else going wrong. The old man stopped and turned, looking at the Ghastly, who seemed to be nervous, for about ten seconds, before nodding his head in approval. He continued on to the house, leaving Clair confused. "Grandpa, what if it attacks us? Why are you letting it follow us?" Clair asked, curious. The elder kept walking as he answered the question his granddaughter posed to him.

"It wants forgiveness. Who are we to stop it from attempting to ask for it?" he asked her, not expecting an answer. Clair turned to the Pokemon in question.

"Is that true? Is that what you want?" she asked the ghost. The ghost nodded enthusiastically, not uttering a sound. "Okay, I suppose that's okay then. But don't try anything, got it?" she threatened. The ghost nodded, slightly fearful. The elder just shook his head. He didn't know why, but she was fiercely protective of Ash, as was he of her. They were almost like lovers with how much they looked after one another. That's part of the reason he and Clair went on frequent visits to their branch family. Delia Ketchum, formerly Wataru, moved here with her husband after most of the clan shunned her for wanting to settle down outside of Blackthorn City. He never quite understood why this was seen as such a bad decision. He didn't mind either way. It got him out of the city every month or so. The main reason he and Delia always let them play together was out of hope for the future. Ash and Clair were so distantly related that it would be alright for them to marry. Admittedly, the elder knew there was a second reason he wanted Ash and Clair married. He didn't want Clair to end up with Lance, the current Johto-Kanto champion. The boy was pompous and expected to be treated as though he were Arceus' gift to mankind. Sure, he was a prodigy, winning the championship earlier this year at the ripe age of Sixteen. Yes, he would surely be able to protect Clair. But he couldn't love her the way he wanted his granddaughter to be loved. Ash could, and so was instantly the better choice. 'Maybe I should set up a contract...' the elder mused. Marriage Contracts were outdated, yes, but the clans still used them. The Wataru of Johto and the Fuschia of Kanto are the only clans that are left because all the others went modern, and turned their backs to tradition. 'Well, if I have anything to say about it, both these children will have starters straight from the Den. Weaker ones, of course. Then they can get lost in the world, and the world will help them discover each other.' the old man mused to himself. He broke himself out of his musings as they walked in the back door of the house Ash and Delia lived in. Delia looked up from the magazine she was reading while the old man went to check on the kids. Once she saw her son, she dropped the magazine and ran to her senior.

"ASH! What happened?" She yelled.

"Just a little trouble with a wild Magneton. He'll be fine Delia. Just needs some rest." he reassured the worried woman. She breathed a sigh of relief. Ash was all she had now ever since her husband left. "I'll take him to his room while Clair tells you what happened. Maybe she could do it in one breath again." the old man joked. Clair blushed, a small part of her wanting to rise to the teasing, but too emotionally exhausted. She's eight, remember. As the elder went toward the stairs, the ghost followed, and Delia finally took notice of it.

"AHH! What's a ghost doing here?" she yelped.

"You'll find out soon. Clair, story." the older man ordered firmly. Clair nodded, and guided the older woman to the living room couch. The man took the small boy to his bedroom and laid him down on the bed. He pulled the blankets down, and placed them over the child. He then glanced at the ghost. "If you truly want to make amends, keep watch, and only let one of us in. Understood?" he asked the Ghastly. It nodded, determined. The man nodded back. "Good." Just as he was about to leave, the boy stirred, but didn't wake up. No, the only change was a small smile on his face, rather than the blank face of someone knocked completely unconscious. The elder smiled, and walked back downstairs. He arrived to see a fuming Delia and a thoroughly scolded Clair. The sight was a strange one without Ash sitting there next to Clair. They usually took the scoldings together. As he walked in, he was noticed by Clair, and before he could venture further into the room than a few feet he was accosted.

"Grandpa, can I go see Ash?" she blurted. He nodded, stepped out of the way, and gestured for her to go on. As she sprinted up the stairs, Delia calmed, and tears came to her eyes as she sat on the newly vacated couch.

"I almost lost him, Grandfather. I can't lose him too." said the nearly broken woman. This had taken a lot out of her, even if it had only been going on for ten minutes at best.

"I know, Delia. I know. I also know that he may get into situations like this when he starts his journey, and since it's him, I would bet that it'll happen again in the future before then. That's why I want to get them their starters now, and allow them to build a bond with that Pokemon over the next two years before their journey. I think it's time for Ash and Clair to visit the Dragon's Den to find a starter." the elder finished. Delia was shocked, but only slightly. She half expected it. The clan was all about safety of the young, after all. "I just need your consent to get him one, and then we need to register it with Professor Oak. He'll still be here at home, but he'll at least have a Pokemon with him. That will make him and Clair happy, and you feel better because he'll be safer. Do I have your consent?" he asked.

She nodded. It was settled. After Ash woke up, they would wait a couple days to make sure he's alright, then head to Blackthorn in Johto to get the kids their starters.


	2. What just happened?

**A/N: Just so it's known, the team Ash will have is finalized, and I am not changing it. I have also decided that I will only work on two stories at a time, and never on the same type(i.e. Never two Pokemon stories). This and my Naruto story, Envoy of the Storm, will be those two primaries. Since i'm a new writer, I don't want to spread myself too thin. I will be posting intermediate oneshots in order to boost my typing speed, writing length, and time I can spend typing in one sittting. Also, please review. I want to know if I am doing something right, and five reviews isn't going to cut it. Now, without further ado...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

**Chapter one: odd beginnings**

Ash woke up groggy, and very much in discomfort. As he opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was a floating purple ball. He waited a minute for his vision to clear, and when it did, what he saw wasn't what he was expecting. Gastly was floating in front of his face, looking down at him curiously, as though he were the greatest puzzle of all time. He jumped up out of his bed and attempted to yell, but his throat was too dry, and no sound came out. He noticed this, and one other thing. Clair was asleep on the side of his bed that he hadn't jumped out of, apparently undisturbed. That wasn't surprising though, as the girl could sleep through a train rolling right by her head. As he was wondering why there was a ghost in his room, and why Clair was asleep in there to begin with, he heard his bedroom door open. In walked his mother, whose eyes widened upon seeing him up.

"Ash! You're awake!" Delia yelled, slightly shocked. She thought he'd be asleep for another couple hours. She ran to him and grabbed him up in a rough hug, which left him breathless, and slightly in pain. She started to shake him back and forth, all while telling him how much she was worried, and how much he had scared her.

Ash tried to say something as she broke away from him, but stopped. He felt a familiar shiver go down his spine, and knew what was coming. It was the same feeling he got when he was in really big trouble. He looked up at her and made eye contact, and sure enough, he could see the righteous fury held there, as well as the worry.

"Do you have ANY idea how worried I was about you? I ought to..." he tuned her out. He started on thinking why there was a strange ghost type in his room that no one was doing anything about.

'Maybe it felt bad and wanted to make sure that I was okay.' Ash mused to himself. 'Or, maybe there's some other reason. Whatever it is, Clair seems alright with it if she could sleep with it around.' he thought again. Thinking of the girl, he turned his attention to his cousin. Only to see that she was not where she had once been. Suddenly, he was hit out of nowhere by a blue haired missile.

"ASH! You're okay!" Clair yelled, though it was half muffled from her burying her head in the crook of his neck. This little scene effectively stopped Delia's ranting and instead elicited coos and teasing. She completely changed moods without missing a beat.

"AWWW!" Delia said, snapping pictures from a camera she seemed to pull from no where. "You two are so cute!" she said, still snapping away. Ash blushed from the teasing.

"MOM!" Ash yelled in a raspy voice, struggling to disentangle himself from the hug Clair had trapped him in. She let him go, only to look him dead in the eye.

"YOU IDIOT! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" she yelled, hot tears seeping over the edge of her eyes. Ash immediately felt guilty. Horribly so. Clair may tear up, but she never cried. Ever. Ash knew he screwed up as soon as he saw this. He wished he hadn't stepped in front of the Magneton now. He wished that when the Ghastly, which was sitting back and waiting for Ash to address it, had hid behind him, that he grabbed Clair and took off back to the house with the Gastly. They could have made it. He, instead, had decided to try to talk to the hybrid Pokemon, thinking maybe there would be a more peaceful way to solve things. He had to agree with Clair there. He was an idiot.

"I..." Ash rasped, forgetting about his dry throat. Luckily, it would seem that Clair's grandpa heard the commotion, and assumed Ash had woken. He came in carrying a glass of water, saying nothing. He sighed as he watched Ash guzzle it down.

"...Do you want to tell me why you seemed to think that running straight into an unknown situation was a smart thing to do?" the elder asked. Ash seemed to shrink back as he looked the elder in the eye. He suddenly found the ground to be very interesting.

"...I heard something was in trouble, and I wanted to help out however I could. I couldn't just leave whoever was there to get hurt. Then, when Clair tried to stop me, I told her to come too and just kept going. When I finally got to where I heard the noise, that clearing, I saw the Gastly there. It was being chased by that Magneton. We tried to stay hidden, but the Gastly saw us, and it came and hid behind us." Gastly winced at that. "So, I went in front of it and Clair because I didn't want them to get hurt. I thought that I could calm it down, but it didn't seem to want to listen." Ash's eyes glazed a bit, remembering what followed next. How could he forget the pain? "After it shocked me, I remember using everything I had left to stand up. I felt like a breeze would blow me over. Then, I heard a voice, your voice, grandpa. I thought maybe you had it under control, and I couldn't stay awake any more. I remember closing my eyes, and passing out. Then I woke up here with this Gastly in my face." Ash explained. He then turned to Clair. "I'm sorry, Clair. I just didn't want you or the Gastly to get hurt." he said, and her eyes softened.

"You're still an idiot." she said, wiping her eyes as she spoke. She attempted to leave the room, but was stopped when the elder put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, wondering why he was stopping her.

"Delia and I have come to an agreement. We needed for you two to have some protection, and have another to rely on in a tough situation if you ever got in one like the one three days ago." said the man.

"THREE DAYS! I WAS ASLEEP FOR THREE DAYS!?" Ash screeched, astounded. His grandfather glared at him. "...er, sorry." he muttered.

"Anyway, as I was saying. It has long been tradition for the Wataru clan to receive their starters from the dragon's den, and start their journeys from there. However, since you two are underage, we will not be allowing you to go on your journey at this time. We will let you 'choose' a starter, though." the old man finished, causing the children to forget that they were supposed to be in trouble, and instead start jumping up and down in excitement.

"REALLY! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" they screamed as one. The elder sushed them.

"This will be a huge responsibility for the both of you. You will have to keep it healthy, fed, and keep it somewhat in line. They will be young, remember." he spoke to the children. They nodded their heads with mega-what smiles on their faces, showing excitement that fits their age. He nodded to himself. He spoke again. "Well, your going to have to wait a couple days. It will take us a while to get there, and we want Ash to heal up. Also, this Gastly has some business with you, Ash." spoke the elder, gesturing to the Pokemon, who seemed smaller than he really was under the gaze of the small boy who had taken a hit for it. Ash lost his exuberance, as did Clair. Both understood that his was their punishment. To wait for a few days for the one thing they both wanted the most. That was an awful punishment. The Gastly hovered for a second, and then it slowly came forward, it's eyes conveying every feeling it had. Regret that it had brought pain on another. Sadness that it had hurt, even indirectly, a small child of any kind. All Pokemon knew, unless it didn't care out of anger or genuine uncaring, that hurting something so innocent was taboo. Anger, at itself, for allowing it to happen. The Gastly knew that it could have led the Magneton away from them. Even though it was young, the ghost type wasn't stupid. It could have kept running. Instead, it had taken shelter behind two children. At the time, it had seemed smart. What Pokemon would willingly hurt a small child of any species? It had underestimated the anger it had caused, and Ash had paid the price. The ghost came to a stop in front of the child, and was about to speak, when Ash asked something that puzzled him.

"Are you okay, Gastly? That mean Magneton didn't hurt you, did it?" Ash asked, clearly worried. The Ghastly tilted its head curiously. What did he mean is it okay? He was the one that took a full blown attack!

"Ghas. Ghas, Ghast. Gastly?" asked the ghost type. No one expected Ash to know what the ghost was saying. As the elder was about to, roughly, translate, he was stopped as Ash spoke back.

"Well, alright. As long as your okay. I'm fine too. And, yes, before you ask, I forgive you. I understand you were scared, and wanted someone to protect you. Now, wanna go play with me and Clair?" Ash asked, and Gastly nodded. Ash was about to go get his shoes on, only to be hounded, but not by the person he thought it would be.

"Oh, no. You're staying in bed. You're still hurt. We can play in here with Gastly." Clair said, clearly putting her foot down. Ash looked guilty as he remembered her teary eyes earlier. He nodded, and complied to her wishes, completely willingly. Delia looked on, proud of her, if not slightly amazed. She could never get Ash to do whatever she wanted when she wanted. She would have to ask the girl if it was something she could learn. THAT would be a useful tool in the future.

'She's proving she can handle him even when he's not at his best.' Delia thought to herself, unknowingly mirroring the thoughts her grandfather had going through his mind. Although the old man's thoughts were on another situation entirely as well.

'He perfectly understood that Gastly. Our family is only able to do so with dragons. How did he do that?' the old man pondered to himself. Now that he thought about it, he had never really seen Ash interact with any Pokemon at all. The elder knew that he adored all of them, even the less sightly ones, such as Muk, but he had never heard about Ash directly interacting with any Pokemon before. 'Maybe it was dumb luck.' he thought. He nodded to himself. That must have been it. Even a blind Pachirisu will find a pecha berry once in a while. He decided to let it go, and focus on the matters at hand.

"Rest up, Ash. We will leave in two days, in the morning. It will be a bit of a trip on my dragon's." said the elder, walking to the door. Delia followed him, but only after giving Ash a hug. They left the room, hearing faint talking through the door as they did.

======Two days later======

Two days later saw the four people all standing in the back yard of the house, along with a Gastly. The elderly man threw two pokeballs high into the air, watching as they cracked open to let out the dragons within. One of them was a Dragonite, the very same one who defeated the Magneton over half a week ago now. The other, however, was a mostly blue dragon with red wings. The Pokemon were silent, waiting for their trainer to speak. And speak he did.

"Dragonite, Salamence, we need you two to fly us back home." he said. The dragons nodded as one, and obediently lowered themselves so that their passengers could climb aboard. "Clair and I will take Salamence since his body will be harder to ride than Dragonite's. When we land, just follow us to the Den. The flight will take about eight hours, so when we get there, it will be mid-afternoon." he said to the others. Ash turned to the Gastly.

"You can wait here till I come back if you want." Ash said, not really wanting to leave his friend. The two had bonded over the last two days. The Gastly nodded solemnly. He would wait, but he would be sad that his new friend was gone. Ash smiled. "Just think. When I come back, we will have another friend to play with!" he said, all smiles about the thought. Gastly smiled back. It would wait.

"Come on, Ash! I want to hurry up and meet my partner!" Clair whined. He nodded, and ran to his mom. She put him on the Dragonite first, and climbed on after him, effectively securing him to the beast beneath him. As though they were one being, the dragons lifted off into the sky, leaving the ghost behind.

======Blackthorn City======

The dragons landed a bit roughly, but otherwise the trip was uneventful. The sights were amazing for a while, until the second hour rolled around. By the third, they were just as common as Ash getting into some variety of trouble that made his mother slightly amazed at him. They landed right outside the den, and when they climbed off the dragons, said dragons being returned, they walked around a bit to get the feeling back in their legs. After about ten minutes of the kids constant chatter about the Pokemon they want, they entered the den. The Dragon's Den itself was naturally lit with a dim light that came from the small amount of light from the entrance hitting the natural crystal deposits in the walls, leaving them slightly glowing. As they walked, many Pokemon eyed them warily, not even attempting to hide. There were Dragonair, Dratini, and a couple Dragonite. Some Seadra looked at them as though they were scum, but they looked that way all the time at all sorts of things. They came up to a doorway where the sounds of splashing was easily heard. As they walked in, they all saw a bunch of baby dragon types playing in a shallow pool of water, while the ones who weren't in the water watched the ones that were from the edge. The babies all stopped, looking at the newcomers curiously. The old man walked forward, and then turned to the two children, while Delia waited behind the two. She knew what was next. He handed them each a pokeball as he addressed them.

"Here are all the baby dragon types that come from the other dragon users Pokemon. For understandable reasons, we can't catch all the dragons in the cave because then it would no longer be a reserve for dragons. Go to the edge of the pool and sit. Then, you wait. One of them will choose you." he said. The children did so, and they waited for about a minute before a Horsea came up to her. Clair, not knowing what else to do, silently and nervously held the pokeball out before her, in front of the small blue Pokemon. The Horsea smile as best it could, and tapped the button with it's snout. It was sucked inside the ball without a fight. Clair stared at the ball in disbelief. Ash, too, stared in disbelief. Had that really just happened? Clair got over her shock and jumped up, bouncing excitedly.

"I got a Horsea! I got a Horsea!" she chanted over and over, again and again. Her grandfather ushered her out, with some difficulty. Now, all was quiet as the Pokemon watched Ash. Ash sat with bated breath, waiting for his partner to come to him, and make itself known. He waited. And waited some more. Then the Pokemon moved, but not to him. They began playing again. Ash looked on wondering why no Pokemon was coming to him. He was startled by the feel of a hand coming down on his shoulder. He looked at the owner of the appendage, and saw his mother looking at him with sorrow. He looked past her and saw his grandfather closing his eyes, seemingly ashamed of something. He turned his attention back to his mother as she began to speak.

"Ash...that means none of them chose you, sweetie." she said as sweetly as she could.

**A/N: let me know what you think. Next chapter will be out soon, but the one after that will be a while longer. That one is when the journey actually begins, and I want to let the chapter length build up to at least 8,000 words before I release it. **


	3. A partner and a goal

**A/N: Welcome, and thanks for being patient. **

**Firstly, next chapter is the first part of the Kanto region. And the starting age is 10, just so you know.  
Secondly, I will be going according to the games and personal thought more than the anime. I don't much like the anime.**

**Thirdly, I will not go into every detail about all the little filler adventures they get into. **

**Fifthly, I may or may not go into the movies. Depends on what I want...**

**Sixthly, I'll bet none of you noticed I skipped Fourthly.**

**Seventh, I'll bet you all went back and looked for fourthly. As was previously stated, it's not there...nice to know you have faith in me...**

**Lastly, I have been on a Bleach kick lately, and I am one of those people who can't write something if they aren't currently reading the same thing they are trying to write. Which is to say, I don't know when the next update will be...Sorry...**

**Let's go!**

**Chapter 2: A partner and a goal...**

Ash lay in bed, dreading the coming day. It was his birthday, and his mom had decided that he needed to stay here all day to spend it with her and her 'surprise guests', as she said. She had told him that he could leave tomorrow. He had agreed only because he knew that he wouldn't see her for a long time, and he needed to wait for Clair. He got up, and started about getting ready for the day.

It had been two years since Ash had been rejected at the Dragon's Den. He remembered it very vividly. The reason for that was the obvious disappointment, and the idea that he had felt a pair of eyes watching him as he left, and when he turned to look in the direction of the eyes, all he saw was a small flash of gold disappear close to the crystals that kept the den lit. He had no idea what it was, but he had felt the same feeling a few times over the years and did not even notice it anymore. He knew something was up, but didn't know what. So he'd wait patiently. Moving on, though.

He hadn't gotten his starter that day at the den, and the ride home was rather subdued. Clair couldn't even find a way to make Ash smile before he left, and she was the best at it. She had offered to let him play with Horsea whenever he wanted while she was there, but that idea had been quickly shot down. The elder had told them that since her Pokemon relied on water, that she would have to live near a water source until it evolved into a Kingdra and learned to levitate. With it being decided that Blackthorn was a better place for Clair to stay, they had promised each other that they would start their journeys on the same day. They were both 10 now.

Ash had, however, gotten himself a starter the next day.

======Flash back======

_When he arrived back, the wild Gastly he had met was still there, and looked very happy to see him. Ash smiled a small, sad smile, and trudged up to his room with heavy feet. The Gastly didn't know what to do. After looking at Delia for a second, it headed up to the room Ash had just shut himself into. It phased through the door, and found Ash sitting on his bed, crying, whilst looking at a pokeball. He had full blown tears coming out of his eyes. Gastly felt bad just seeing this. It floated over to the boy, right in front of his face. The boy looked up. The Gastly smiled, and tapped the center of the pokeball, right where the button was. Gastly turned into a red plasma, and was sucked into the ball. The ball immediately settled down, and Ash just watched the whole thing, stunned. He quickly pressed the button to release Gastly. It came out a bit disoriented, and turned to Ash when it had its bearings. _

"_Gastly, why did you do that? Do you want to come with me?" __Ash asked, still a bit shocked. He had only ever heard of the baby dragon Pokemon in the Den willingly coming with a trainer. The Gastly nodded. "...Well, then partner, we have got some training to do. Our goal is to become the Kanto __Champion. Which means we have to beat cousin Lance. First though, we need to go register you with Professor Oak. Clair got registered earlier today, and it's almost bed time, so we will go tomorrow." Ash said, laying down with a smile. He got under the covers, and waved Gastly over. "__You don't have to go back in the ball if you don't want to." Ash spoke as the Gastly set itself down next to its new master. "Goodnight, partner." Ash said as sleep overtook him._

**======Oak Lab======**

_Ash had awoken early the next morning and set out for Professor Oak's Lab with a grin on his face, Gastly floating along right beside him, quiet as usual. Ash had found out that Gastly only ever spoke when he thought he needed to. They arrived at the door, and knocked politely. They waited a moment, then heard a couple bangs. Then, a voice was heard. _

"_I'm coming, just hold on!" the voice yelled. Another bang, and the door opened up, and there stood the professor himself in all of his glory. "Ah. Ash! What can I do for you, my boy?" the professor queried. Ash smiled as he spoke. _

"_Well, Professor, I need to register my starter." Ash said._

"Alright, but I don't remember giving you one. Where did you get it?" Oak asked as he lead the small boy into the laboratory. 

"_Well, it's kind of a long story, and I don't want to waste your time, sir. Can I-" Ash said, then was interrupted. _

"_Wait a second there, Ash. I'm required as this region's Regional Professor to know where each of my trainer's get their starters. You are going to have to tell me, I'm afraid." the old man said, eyeing Ash sternly. Ash gulped, and looked around. _

"_Do you have a place to sit down? Like I said, it's kind of a long story." Ash said. The elderly professor nodded, and waved Ash to follow him when he set off. "Why is it required for you to know?"_

_Ash asked the man._

"_We Regional Professors are in charge of setting trainers on the right course for the beginning of their journeys. We have to keep track of every sponsored trainer's Pokemon as well. Most importantly, and not many know this, the test of whether you get your trainer's license happens during the first meeting of the prospective trainer and the Pokemon they chose to be their partner. It all has to do with the treatment of the Pokemon by the trainer in the first minutes. This tells us whether they will be okay to release into the world with a Pokemon or not. This is the test the Regional Professors came up with years ago, and this is also the reason for the Trainer's License. It all has to do with indirectly monitoring who will and won't be a good trainer, and prevents us from subjecting the possible future Pokemon of that trainer to bad treatment. All of this helps Pokemon. To be able to tell who passes and who doesn't, everything about the first encounter with the Pokemon they chose must be recorded." the professor finished. By now they were seated in the living room of the lab. _

"_If this is supposed to be a secret, why are you telling me?" Ash asked. _

"_I already know how much you adore Pokemon. I already know you will pass the test. Humor me." Oak said patiently. He was waiting for Ash to tell him of his and his starter's first meeting. Oak had no doubt the boy would pass. _

End flash back======

Ash remembered the look on the professor's face after he finished. Oak was furious and relieved, which made for an interesting look on the man's face. He had been correct: Ash had passed, but only barely. Oak had said he had half a mind to not give him the chance to be a trainer just so that the Pokemon didn't have to go through anything like what Ash did, but relented once Ash said that it may not have happened that way if Ash had had a Pokemon to begin with. During this conversation, Ash had noticed that Gastly was missing. He carried on, not making any fuss about it because he somehow knew that Gastly was still in the area. He was proven correct when the professor asked to see the starter. Gastly had appeared out of thin air about a foot from the professor's face, which scared him. Ash thought it was funny. The professor didn't.

After that, the aged professor registered Ash as having a starter, and gave him his license. Ash had been happy beyond all belief, but had settled down when the professor had told him to come back to his lab when he wanted to start his journey. Ash had agreed, and set out for home.

He had spent the next two years coming up with strategies, training, watching battles, and deciding what he wanted to do if he never became champion. Immediately, an Elite Four member popped into his mind. After that though, was Pallet Town Gym Leader. He figured that he was destined for greatness either path he took.

He had also decided that since, obviously, dragons didn't like him, he would avoid the dragon species as a whole and focus more on the ones he found that he wanted and the ones that wanted to come with him only. He thought that his family might not want to hear such a thing. Not raising dragons in the dragon clan was almost treason in their books. They thought that if you weren't able enough to train at least one member of the dragon species, you had no business being a member of the clan. It was harsh, but provided motivation. Ash didn't care though. He had made his decision, and had decided he would live with the consequences.

He got dressed, and went through his door and down the stairs, just as usual. He also noticed that his faithful partner didn't meet up with him on the way, which was weird. It was akin to tradition. He shrugged it off. Gastly was responsible, and he trusted him.

He made it to the bottom, and turned the corner, where he stopped with wide eyes.

"CLAIR!" he yelled, jumping forward to catch the blunette missile that had launched herself at him.

"ASH!" she yelled back, crushing him in a hug. He returned the hug, burying his head in her neck just as she did to him. He faintly heard cooing and saw a couple flashes, but didn't pay any mind to what was going on around him. He hadn't seen her in two years. He let go of his best friend, and looked down at her, smiling. She smiled back up at him, and gestured to the rest of the people in attendance. His mother, the elder, Professor Oak, and his grandson Gary, along with Lance.

'_What's the champion doing here?_' Ash thought to himself. He came back to reality as Clair pulled him over to a chair, and sat him down in it. He looked down at the table that now occupied the space in front of him, and smiled. There was a cake in the shape of a pokeball with the message "Happy Birthday, Ash!" on it. There were also ten candles spotted periodically around the cake.

"Blow out the candles, Ash! Make a wish!" Clair said. He nodded, and closed his eyes, thinking.

'_What do I really, truly want?_' he asked himself. He thought of the things he had seen in his short decade of life. He had seen his mother work tirelessly. He had seen his father leave his family behind. He had seen his mother and Clair shed tears over him. As he thought through all of this, the others waited for him to make a move. '_I think that I want..._' he opened his eyes. '_...yea. I wish that..._' he blew as hard as he could. He got all the candles in one go. As he looked up at his family, smiling, he saw the same flash of something in the window that he had seen in the cave. His eyes lingered a moment, but then came back to his family, who were all clapping. Except for Lance, who had his head down and arms crossed with his eyes closed.

"I'm so proud of my baby boy!" Delia said, hugging him as soon as she got the chance. After she let go, she spoke again. "I'll go get the presents!" she yelled while sprinting upstairs. Ash looked after her in bewilderment. The woman was one of the most excitable and unpredictable people he had ever even heard of. As she ran out of sight, he turned back around to the Professor, who was busy speaking with his grandfather. Lance was still in his typical "cool guy" pose, as Ash had taken to calling it. Gary was making faces at Clair, who was promptly ignoring him. Then he turned to Clair, who was looking at him with intense eyes. This made him slightly nervous.

"What? Is there something on my face?" He asked, reaching up to his face, all the while feeling self conscious about how he looks. She just smiled, and shook her head.

"I'm thinking about how I can't wait to battle you. Wanna go?" she asked, knowing he would jump at the opportunity. They did have a pond in the back yard...

Just as he was about to answer, his mother decided to make her appearance.

"Ash, sweetie, come to the living room and we'll open your presents, okay?" she said as she breezed by with arms full of presents. There weren't many, mostly because of the lack of people who were invited, but that didn't bother him in the slightest.

"After this we can battle, okay?" he said, looking back at Clair as he started toward the living room. She nodded her head, and followed after him just as the others came as well. He sat down on the couch as his mother set all of the presents on the coffee table in front of him. "Can I open them?" he asked his mother.

"Yep! I got the camera right here!" she chirped, bringing the camera up to her face. Ash reached out and grabbed one. "Tell us who it's from, Ash." Delia said.

"This one is from Grandpa." he said as he tore into it, reminding them that he was just ten, even if he acted older. He got the paper off and opened the ornate black box that had been wrapped, and looked at what he held in his hand. It was a poke-flute. He looked at his grandfather, and knew exactly why his grandfather had gotten this for him. There were often times where a Pokemon would rampage, and this flute helped calm them. It also woke a sleeping Pokemon. People who studied these odd items thought that this flute brought the consciousness of a Pokemon to a neutral state, allowing them to process what is going on around them. In reality, no one knows for sure why they affect Pokemon the way that they do, only that they do. "Thank you Grandpa." Ash said sincerely. His grandfather just nodded his head, not making a sound.

"Next is Professor Oak and Gary." Ash said, picking up a package that had a solid square base with a round top. Ash opened it up, and was slightly shocked at seeing a TM case. He knew how expensive they were. Before Ash could say anything, Oak spoke.

"Look inside, Ash." he said. Ash, being the curious kid that he is, obliged. He saw three, unused, TM's inside. Upon closer inspection, he saw that they were Toxic, Shadow Ball, and Torment. He looked up to the Professor and grinned as big as he thought was possible. These would help a lot. As it stands, Gastly only knew hypnosis, lick, spite, mean look, dream eater, and night shade. More of a support moveset, really. With these TM's though, their horizons would be that much broader. Ash looked at Gastly. '_I really need to give him a nickname...'_ Ash thought. He wanted his Pokemon to be individuals. '_I'll think about that later, when I use these to teach him these moves.' _Ash thought. He set the TM case down, thanked the professor, and reached for his mother's present.

"It's from you mom." he said, doing as she had asked once more. He opened the package, which was a small box about the size of his hand. After he got the wrapping paper off, he looked at the box, and was slightly shocked. It was a PokeGear, or PG for short. These were pretty expensive from what he remembered. Not as costly as a Cross Tranceiver, but still up there. He looked at his mom, and smiled. For months she had made him promise to call her anytime his future journey would come up. He had always promised, but it seems she wanted to be sure. He got up and hugged his mom, ignoring Clair's light teasing and Gary's snickering. His mom hugged him back, tightening her grip when he tried to pull away. He smiled. He was gonna miss her.

He pulled away and sat back down, reaching for the final gift in the process.

"This one is from Clair." he said to the rest of the people in attendance. It was a simple thing, really. A small palm sized box. Before he could actually open it, Clair spoke.

"I had a dream, and that dream was the reason behind the gift." she said while Ash tore into the wrapping paper. He came upon a cardboard box. He opened the box, and what he saw made his eyes widen a bit. He pulled out a silver chain with a small Rayquaza on the chain. He knew what this was. A charm that is worn by some members of the clan. The piece of jewelry is askance for Rayquaza to watch over someone. He looked to Clair.

"What made you want to give this to me?" he asked, more curious than anything else.

"Like I said: a dream." she answered. "Now, open the one from Lance. He came a long way to see us off for our journey just like he does everyone else." she said, unknowingly answering the question he had asked himself earlier. He nodded, getting that she wanted the subject to change. He looked to the table at the sole remaining present, and picked it up. It was a small, thin box. After Ash got all the paper off, he opened the box, and was surprised. There was a dragon scale. He looked to Lance as the champion spoke.

"It is a scale from my most powerful Dragonite. It's what I give all of the starting trainers of our clan. Clair received hers about a month ago on her birthday. It's both a symbol of our clan, and a challenge." he said. Ash nodded his head. He got the message loud and clear.

_**COME GET ME.**_

The party continued with the family in a light and festive atmosphere for about another hour after that. Then Clair couldn't take it anymore.

"Alright, let's battle!" she said suddenly, grabbing Ash's hand and bolting out the door. She was excited. The adults followed at a more sedate pace, though they were interested. It wasn't very often one got to see two members of the Wataru dragon clan battle, no matter the age. The adults arrived to see the children standing across the yard from one another, just in front of the pond that was in the back of the Ketchum residence. Clair was grinning like a maniac, and Ash was the same. This was his first battle. Then Ash realized he forgot something.

"Wait, Clair. I need to use these TM's first." Ash said. He looked to his side, and Gastly appeared. Everyone wondered how he knew where Gastly was, but just thought he got lucky. "Wait here. There is some things that I want to talk to you about." Ash said. He charged back inside, and soon returned with the TM case. As he took a TM out, he asked Gastly the question he had decided would be reserved for this time. "Do you want a nickname?" Ash asked, finishing using the Shadow Ball TM. Gastly looked at him, and nodded, then went still as Ash put the Toxic TM on him. "How about...Specter?" Ash asked. After he finished with Toxic, he allowed Gastly to answer back. Gastly did so with a nod. "Specter it is, then. Now, you have been quiet today. Why is that?" he asked, putting on the last TM. After it was done, Spectre just shook his head, saying he wouldn't tell. Ash shrugged, and looked to Clair. "Let's go." he shouted.

"FINALLY! Let's go, Horsea!" Clair yelled, hurling a pokeball into the air. It opened with a crack, and a white light erupted from within, and shot toward the pond. The light formed into Horsea when it reached to water.

"Horrs!" it trilled. Clair couldn't keep from grinning. She knew something no one else did.

Ash stood, and spoke.

"I'll be going with Specter." he said, and Specter moved forward onto the battle field

"Specter? Since when does he have a nickname?" Clair asked, no longer grinning, but wearing a puzzled expression.

"About a minute and a half ago. Ready to start? You can have first move." Ash said back. Clair smirked. He would regret that.

"Alright. Horsea, Water Gun!" she said. The little sea horse reared its head back, and then threw it forward, a spray of water coming out of its snout. Ash just did nothing. In response to the attack, Specter moved to the side and disappeared. "Where did he go?" Clair asked.

"Shadow ball." Ash said. In the air, out of nowhere, a ball of energy was gathered and shot.

"Dodge, then aim for that spot with water gun!" Clair commanded. Horsea moved, and shot, only to hit nothing. Clair growled. "How is he dodging without you saying to do it?" she asked Ash.

"Easy. I don't want any of my Pokemon to be completely dependent on me in any battle, so I asked him to avoid any attacks that may come at him. Also, while we are on the subject, I don't like having to tell my opponent my plans, so I told Spectre to disappear like that right after a dodge so that we can regroup and think." Ash explained. "Now, use toxic." he said, back on the offensive. A glob of poison flew from nowhere, and made contact with Horsea while Clair just stood there, slightly in awe of the forethought Ash had put into his battling.

**-With the Adults-**

As they were watching the children battle, the adults couldn't help but be slightly surprised at Ash's strategy. It was smart. _'I'll have to mention this to Agatha...' _Lance thought to himself. This boy was a newbie, but if someone like Agatha trained him and he used this technique, then he could very well be a true challenge if he ever decided to go for the championship.

**-The Children-**

Clair shook herself out of her slightly shocked state, and growled. She had been too caught up in thinking of the smart strategy Ash used to notice the attack coming, and because she had not commanded a dodge, Horsea had stayed still, and been poisoned because of it.

"Now I see the brilliance behind that strategy." she grumbled to herself. "Horsea, hold on. Try a widespread bubblebeam! Make it go everywhere!" she ordered. Horsea acted, and sent a blast of bubbles all around the battle field. _'Now we just wait for some difference'_ Clair thought to herself.

"Down." was all that Ash said in response. It puzzled all of the people watching. The bubbles continued to spread out all around the battlefield, but there was never any change. No bubbles popped and nothing pushed out of the way of any particular area. "Now, lick." Ash said.

Specter's head appeared out of the surface of the lake, and licked Horsea with his larger than normal tongue. Horsea swam back, slightly shocked that Spectrt had been right next to her.

"Shadow ball for the finish!" Ash yelled in excitement as a flash of purple erupted over Horsea's body, signifying poison damage. Clair knew that while the poison took effect, Horsea was vulnerable.

"Sink down!" She yelled desperately, not wanting to lose her first battle with Ash. It was for naught, though, as Horsea was in too much pain to register the command, not having been in a situation such as this before. The shadow ball connected, and threw Horsea out of the water, and onto the bank behind it, out cold. Clair's shoulders slumped.

"YEA!" Ash yelled, excited about his first win. He jumped up and down with Specter watching, now visible, just a few feet away. Clair, watching him, couldn't help but smile, and returned Horsea to her ball. They would have to show Ash their little trick later. They were both interrupted, he from celebrating and her from watching him, by the sound of clapping. They both turned to see the rest of the party goers walking to them from the sidelines. Ash and Clair met them halfway.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Gary yelled. A hand on his head alerted him to his grandfather's presence.

"Now now, Gary, no need to yell." the older Oak said, before addressing the two trainers before him. "That was a spectacular battle for two people so young! You should both be proud." he said.

"Thanks Professor, but I didn't win, and I never got to show you guys our trump card. The battle ended too quickly." Clair said dejectedly. Everyone looked at her with confusion shining in their eyes.

"What move does Horsea know that would have turned the tide?" Lance asked, admitting to himself that he was a bit curious on what she thought would help her win.

"It's not a move." she said, puzzling everyone even further.

"Then what is this trick of yours?" her grandfather asked. She just grinned, and turned to Ash, who was standing just next to her.

"That can wait for the battle we have tomorrow. You caught me off guard today, but it won't happen again. I'll win tomorrow, you'll see." she said. Ash just smiled in response to her challenge.

"Alright, we can battle tomorrow, but when I win again, I don't want to hear any complaints." he said, adopting a semi-arrogant attitude. He knew arrogance was one way to quickly make her mad. She didn't like being talked down to. By anyone.

"I'll show you, Ketchum. Just you wait." she said with a forced calm. She knew he was just trying to get her riled up. She wasn't going to let it work. He waved her off.

"Whatever you say Clair." he said, brushing her off, and infuriating her more than before. She was determined not to rise to it, though, and remained silent. He smirked at her in one final attempt, but she held strong.

The rest of the day was filled with laughs and games, but had a small amount of sadness emanating from a select few members of the gathering. This would be that last full day they would all be in one place at the same time for a long while, and they wanted to enjoy it.


End file.
